How Return of the Ring Should Have Been Written
by FallonViola
Summary: The finale was horrible, so I changed parts of it. In this version, Blair actually breaks up with Dan, Serena apologizes like she should, and Chuck and Blair have the perfect reunion. If you didn't like 5x24, read this.
1. Dair to Let Go

**I was so disappointed by the season 5 finale of Gossip Girl, so I changed some things. One of the things I hated the most was that we didn't get to see Blair break up with Dan. I didn't want to see that because simply I'm a Chuck and Blair fan, but because I felt that it would have been the right thing to do. The writing in italics is what actually was said/happened in the episode, and the writing w/o italics in my personal addition. The following two chapters will also include parts of the episode that I wish had been very different.**

* * *

_"Do you even want to be in this relationship?" Dan asked Blair exasperatedly._

_"Of course," she replied._

_Dan didn't buy it. "Is the reason you can't say you love me because you're still in love with Chuck?"_

_"No," she said quietly._

_"Then I need to know how you feel about me. By tonight."_

_"Dan-"_

_"We're supposed to be spending the summer in Italy together and I don't want you coming unless I know where we stand."_

Blair nodded slowly, smiled softly, and turned to leave. But when she got to the door, she realized that she couldn't play games anymore. She had grown up. She couldn't string along two men that she cared for deeply, especially now that she knew in her heart who she loved the most. She turned back around to face Dan.

"I don't a night to figure out my feelings," she told him softly.

Dan looked at her quizzically, with a tone of hope in his eyes. Blair walked over to him slowly and took his hand in hers, the same way he had done that night in the hospital and looked up into his puppy-dog eyes. "You are the best boyfriend a girl could possibly ask for, and you know how difficult it is to get my seal of approval."

Dan chuckled at that, looking at the floor, and then looked up again to see where this would head. "You've always been there for me, no matter what and discovering that that was because you loved me completely floored me. I was so happy to finally have someone who loved me who was also good for me, that I tried to control my feelings. In you, Dan, I saw the perfect guy for me – smart, kind, caring, and a best friend."

Dan knew where this was going and his expression began to drop. "But there was always something missing. With Chuck, I get butterflies every time I'm with him or even see him, but that's not true for us. I tried, though. I really tried to get those butterflies, but the heart wants what the heart wants," she said very quietly, never failing to keep her eyes locked with Dan's.

"I know that Chuck isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. He has done awful, horrible, seemingly unforgivable things to me in the past. But what's strange is that I forgive him for everything. And I know that I will always forgive him, because I love him. He is my… my air, and I don't think I can live without him."

Dan nodded and cleared his throat softly. "I kind of figured. I've actually always known that, but I didn't want to believe it. That's why I got so paranoid when-"

"I know," Blair said kindly. "I don't blame you." She got up on her toes and kissed Dan on the cheek. "You are one of the best men I have ever met, Dan Humphrey, and whoever falls for you the way I have for Chuck is going to be the luckiest girl in the world."

They stared with unspoken agreement in their eyes for a moment and then Blair smiled softly, turned to leave, and exited that old, wonderful loft.


	2. Macaroons and Resolution

Another thing I hated about this episode was the nasty fight between Serena and Blair. I'm all for fights and make-ups, but with only 11 episodes total left, a fight that terrible really shouldn't happen so late in the game. The following is what I think should have happened. Again, what's in italics is what actually occurred/was said in the episode, and the writing not in italics is my own personal addition.

* * *

_After her breakup with Dan, Blair decided to go home. She was stretched out on her sofa, browsing through her laptop when Serena came downstairs saying bitingly, "I just got off the phone with David O'Russell's assistant. My invitation to the premier was rescinded."_

_Blair raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly at her laptop. "I've always found him an intelligent filmmaker." _

"_Because Gossip Girl posted a diary page about how I never read "The Beautiful and Damned, but I just pretended to to get the job."_

"_Well maybe you should have considered that before you leaked my diary." _

"_It wasn't in your diary," Serena said, eyes narrowed. _

"_Not the ones you found," Blair clarified. "But it was in was on the page I just wrote and e-mailed to Gossip Girl when I saw your invitation."_

"_Blair you knew how important that job was to me," Serena said coldly with hurt and confusion in her eyes. "I was on the verge of getting another one."_

"_Summer job on a film set versus exposing all my secrets… No, I'm not sorry." Blair rose from her seat after "carefully" weighing the two situations. As she walked towards the stairs to leave Serena's suffocating presence, a beep sounded, signaling a new Gossip Girl post. _

_Blair took out her phone with dread and read her latest diary entry out loud, "I'll never love Chuck again after what he did tonight. He's a monster – he deserves to be alone forever." She looked up at Serena with spite. "I was waiting for that one. You happy now? Now that I'm as alone as you are?"_

Serena saw how upset Blair was and shook her head slowly, staring at the floor. "I'm sorry, B." She ran a hand through her hair. "This is all such a mess and I never intended for this to happen. I shouldn't have taken your diaries – I was being petty and jealous. You don't deserve this."

Blair's eyebrows rose in surprise, then lowered again, realizing who she was talking to: her best friend. "It's okay, S. I get jealousy. This whole Dan situation was probably terrible for you. And now that I know that it's impossible to let true love go, I completely understand your pain."

Serena looked up at Blair in confusion. "Chuck?" she asked hesitantly.

Blair nodded. "Yes. Ever since he first asked me to help him with his latest shenanigans I haven't been able to keep him out of my mind. Or heart." She looked at the floor, thinking about him. "I realized that I've always been in love with Chuck. That's how it is, and how it always will be. Dan is wonderful, but I just don't have what I had with Chuck with him." At that, Blair lifted to eyes to Serena, surrendered to her judgment.

Serena smiled softly at Blair, not because Dan was free, but because Blair was telling her everything again. "You're a good person, B. I'm so sorry for everything." And then she wrapped her arms tightly around her best friend and Blair reciprocated. When Serena pulled away, she smiled wickedly. "I've got so macaroons from Lorden's. Let's go watch some _Sabrina_, yeah?"

Blair nodded, her eyes full of tears from her vocal romantic revelation as well as the embrace from her regained best friend. She needed this before her impending meeting with Chuck. "Sounds wonderful."


	3. A Proper Reunion

A lot of people liked that Chuck rejected Blair because they felt that he had a right to do so after everything she'd put him through this past year. Honestly, I could not disagree more. After the hotel incident last year I thought that Chuck had realized that Blair was the most important thing in his life, no matter what. And the writers screwed that up. Here's what probably would have happened if everyone hadn't been so OOC. Again, italics is what actually happened/occurred in the episode, and the writing not in italics is my own personal addition.

* * *

_Blair reached the rooftop and saw Chuck looking out over the city, her dark knight. She walked over to him with tenderness in her heart. "I'm sorry," she told him softly._

"_I don't need your pity," Chuck said._

"_I'm not here because I pity you," Blair corrected. "I'm here because it was time I was honest with you." A moment of silence passed between the two of them. "I love you. I'm in love with you – I've tried to kill it, to run away from it, but I can't. And I don't want to anymore."_

Chuck shook his head, looking out over the city. "My father called me weak for putting so much into your happiness." He looked over at Blair. "For a long moment, I thought that he was right."

Blair felt tears begin to form in her eye. He continued, stepping towards her, "That night, a year ago. I had never experienced pain like that before. I had thought that handing you over for my hotel was the right thing to do but nothing was farther from the truth. That night made me realize that _you_ are the most important thing in my life, not business, not reputation. If that makes me weak, then so be it."

Tears were dripping down Blair's face and she threw her arms around the vulnerable Chuck. Blair whispered into his ear, "You are the strongest man I know."

Chuck pulled away from her slightly, and they looked deeply into each other's eyes. Both leaned in for a kiss – a passionate kiss of resolution and finality. They were finally together and neither wanted to let go.


	4. A Surprise in Bed

_This_ is how I wish 5x24 had ended. I might continue with this, but only if people expressly ask me to.

* * *

A week passed and Chuck and Blair spent every moment together. One particular morning, Chuck looked over to Blair, sleeping like an angel next to him in bed and smiled. He brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face and her eyes slowly opened. "Morning," he said softly.

"Morning," Blair smiled softly at him.

"I have a surprise for you," Chuck said, barely trying to hide his enthusiasm. He pulled two tickets from behind him and grinned. "We're going to take a trip."

Blair sat up and examined the plane tickets. She beamed and looked up at Chuck. "Paris?"

Chuck nodded. "I know some fine people over there that might be able to help me with my current situation. Plus, it's Paris."

Blair giggled. "Yes, of course, oh my goodness _yes_." Chuck chuckled and they kissed like newlyweds.

When they pulled away, Blair smiled wickedly with an eyebrow raise and said, "Scheming in the city of love – what could be better?"

Chuck smiled in reply. Together, he knew that she and he could take down Bart and have a hell of a good time doing so. He thought of the ring in his desk drawer and imagined how Blair would react when he brought her to the Eiffel Tower and asked her to be his partner in crime for life. After that, _nothing_ could be better.


End file.
